Louise Thompson shared a poignant post on Monday, as she returned to the place where she announced her pregnancy exactly four years ago.
The former Made in Chelsea star, 30, nearly died when giving birth to her first child, Leo, after undergoing an emergency C-section in December 2021 due to suffering ‘serious complications’.
She ended up in intensive spent and spent five weeks in hospital, leaving her with PTSD and post-natal anxiety due to her near-death experience.
Louise has since documented her recovery and family life with her son, three, and fiancé Ryan Libbey, on Instagram, with her latest update seeing her reflect on how far she’d come.
The reality star shared a string of snaps of her, Ryan and Leo lying in a bluebell field, which she revealed was the same one she had posed in for her pregnancy announcement.
Reposting the photo she had taken at the time of her and Ryan holding up their ultrasound photo, Louise explained they hadn’t realised that they had returned exactly four years later to the day.
Louise Thompson shared a poignant post on Monday, as she returned to the place where she announced her pregnancy exactly four years ago
The former Made in Chelsea star, 30, nearly died when giving birth to her first child, Leo, after undergoing an emergency C-section in December 2021 due to suffering ‘serious complications’
She ended up in intensive spent and spent five weeks in hospital, leaving her with PTSD and post-natal anxiety due to her near-death experience
She wrote: ‘same day 4 years apart. By complete coincidence we ended up back in the same bluebell field, the same week, the same month, exactly 4 years apart.
‘And what a wild ride it’s been. We’ve gained our beautiful Leo, and a hell of a lot of grey hairs. Who knows where we’ll be in another 4. Anything is possible.
‘This place is imprinted with such beautiful memories for us and our family. x’
Taking to her Instagram Stories to share a side by side of her pregnancy announcement snap and one of her and Ryan cuddling Leo, she added: ‘Unknowingly ended up back in the same place exactly 4 years later.
‘Only highlighted by the lovely owners who pointed out it was bluebell season again. A short window. We were there for a cycling trip.’
The coincidence was extra poignant, coming after Louise revealed she suffered a devastating miscarriage last year in a heartbreaking post last month.
She had previously opened up about the miscarriage in her new book Lucky: Learning to live again, as well as her latest Daily Mail column.
And sharing the news with her followers for the first time, she posted a photo of her positive pregnancy test alongside a lengthy and candid caption.
Louise has since documented her recovery and family life with her son, three, and fiancé Ryan Libbey, on Instagram, with her latest update seeing her reflect on how far she’d come
The reality star shared a string of snaps of her, Ryan and Leo lying in a bluebell field, which she revealed was the same one she had posed in for her pregnancy announcement
Reposting the photo she had taken at the time of her and Ryan holding up their ultrasound photo, Louise explained they hadn’t realised that they had returned exactly four years later to the day
She wrote: ‘same day 4 years apart. By complete coincidence we ended up back in the same bluebell field, the same week, the same month, exactly 4 years apart’
Taking to her Instagram Stories to share a side by side of her pregnancy announcement snap and one of her and Ryan cuddling Leo, she added: ‘Unknowingly ended up back in the same place exactly 4 years later’
Louise wrote: ‘Tw: lots of stuff. This is not now, this was last January. The night before I got on a flight. As if things needed to get more complicated.
‘I only told a handful of people, but I wrote a bit about it in the book and now that it is out there in the big bad world I thought it was easier to share on here than to have anyone question it behind my back.
‘I often find it easier to write this sort of stuff down than to speak about it out loud. And hopefully this will help me process it. Sharing can feel quite liberating.
‘So much has happened in the past 3 years as we all know and v v quickly. It feels like such a dense time in my life.
‘As my life coach often says I’ve signed up to the “speedy learning course”. Riding in the fast lane. My time here on this planet has been anything but boring.’
Reflecting on the last tough few years, she continued: ‘Sometimes (actually, all the time) I stop myself from having the time or the space to think about all the hard things that my body has been through. I love working with my coach because she teaches me to look forward. We talk about fun projects, work, relationships and all the menial bits and bobs that make up this rollercoaster we call life too.
‘I haven’t worked with my psychotherapist for well over a year because I thought I was done with all of that.
‘That means I haven’t been forced to look back. But then I had to have more surgery 6 months ago and actually over the last week being back in the hospital to discuss potential plans for future surgeries and stuff has brought everything rushing back.
The coincidence was extra poignant, coming after Louise revealed she suffered a devastating miscarriage last year in a heartbreaking post last month
She had previously opened up about the miscarriage in her new book Lucky: Learning to live again, as well as her latest Daily Mail column
‘It’s landed on me like a tonne of bricks. I’ve noticed some weird avoidance behaviours, some silly distractions seeping in, and also have found it really hard to focus on things properly.
‘I’ve felt a little confused between the then and now and I’ve also had some rather bizarre memories pop in and I’ve cried a little bit most days which feels alien (even though I used to be called tears Thompson) because I’ve been so happy.
‘I’ll be honest I think there is a need for more processing. I haven’t spoken to a therapist since the stoma surgery.
‘I think it might be time to try some dreaded EMDR. Please can someone give me confidence that it won’t be dreaded?!?’
She continued: ‘I talk a wee bit about it in the extra chapter of my book, but it’s crazy to think that Leo could have had a sibling born last September. I doubt that it was ever going to work. Probably a mere chemical pregnancy.
‘Whatever it was the change in hormones or blood flow to that area caused the most insane amount of bleeding from my bum in the weeks that followed and ended up having my stoma surgery as a result. So capiche. That was the end of that dream. W
‘Was it a dream though? Not something that was planned, in fact a complete miracle given the circumstances and I’ll let you work that one out, although there are many circumstances that make this one very unusual, including the fact it’s practically a mary and joseph moment.
‘But I knew something was different to test because I felt a very unusual sense of tiredness that I only got when being pregnant last time and I felt very sick too.
She concluded by saying: ‘My fertility and our fertility journey is something I’m only just starting to wrap my head around 3 1/2 years after the birth of my beautiful son’
‘These are not symptoms I’ve experienced aside from my last pregnancy.’
She concluded by saying: ‘My fertility and our fertility journey is something I’m only just starting to wrap my head around 3 1/2 years after the birth of my beautiful son.
‘There is a lot I haven’t come to terms with, and I haven’t wanted to until now. I remember my therapist asking me about it a few years ago and she asked whether I was sad about my situation and I just brushed it off. It was all way to soon to start thinking about the idea of more anything when I had so much fixing to do.
‘But I actually remembered to mention it in a medical appointment last week and it kind of brought about this flood of emotions and it felt quite necessary and quite good. I need to get it out now.’
Her emotional post comes after she fought back tears as she recounted how childbirth nearly killed her on Wednesday’s episode of This Morning.
The reality star appeared on the ITV show to chat to Ben Shephard, 50, and Cat Deeley, 48, about the paperback version of her book, which documents her struggles after welcoming son Leo into the world in December 2021.
The mum-of-one, who was diagnosed with Ulcerative colitis diagnosis in 2018, has since been diagnosed with Lupus, Asherman’s syndrome, suffered a second Hemorrhage and has also had a stoma bag fitted.
Speaking to Cat and Ben about her traumatic birth, Louise bravely recalled: ‘I ended up not being able to deliver him naturally. What has left me with lasting damage.’
Her emotional post comes after she fought back tears as she recounted how childbirth nearly killed her on Wednesday’s episode of This Morning
Sam Thompson, 32, also appeared on the sofa to chat about the difficult time with Ben and Cat
She added: ‘It’s crazy how long it can take to process all of it, but the book has been a big part of that.
‘I found myself, discharged, I couldn’t function, I couldn’t connect with my son. I didn’t recognise my life. Writing for me was a cathartic process.
‘It was the only way I could communicate with people.’
Ulcerative colitis is a chronic bowel condition where the colon and rectum become inflamed and small ulcers develop on the colon’s lining, which can bleed.
Asherman’s syndrome rare condition where scar tissue builds up inside the uterus and Lupus is one of the chronic autoimmune conditions where the body makes antibodies against itself and starts to attack it.
And a stoma bag is a medical device that a person uses to remove body waste.
After being through something so traumatic Louise confessed that she struggled a lot more with her mental health, rather than her physical.
She explained: ‘The mental stuff was a lot worse, physical, you can often fix a physical problem, the mental torture was really hard to grapple with.’
Louise, pictured with her son Leo, spent five weeks in hospital after her emergency C-section after suffering ‘serious complications’ that left her in intensive care, which then impacted her mental health
Louise was joined by her Made In Chelsea star brother Sam, 32, on the sofa as well.
His emotions soon got the better of him as he confessed: ‘Oh I am going to cry!’
However he managed to compose himself and went on to explain how each of the family members had roles to play while she was in hospital and he saw himself as the joker.
Sam explained: ‘Louise was going through a lot, sometimes she needs a joker in there. I try and make her laugh a bit. Everyone had a different role.’
He also found a side of himself that shocked him while Louise was unwell and recalled that he was at the ITV Palooza when she had a Hemorrhage and had to sneak out to go to the hospital to support her.
Sam said: ‘It’s a weird thing when you love so much is in so much crisis and who you become in that moment.’
He added: ‘You lock in, I’ve never been so focused in my life when it gets that bad, you really sort of street into a different phase of your being.
‘I hope to never have it again. You become laser focused. I wasn’t that emotional, I was just so on it. I’ve never been like that before.’
If you have been affected by this story, you can seek advice at www.miscarriageassociation.org.uk or by calling 01924 200 799
For confidential support, call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch. See www.samaritans.org for details
What is a stoma?
A stoma is a surgically-created opening made on the abdomen, which is made to divert the flow of urine and faeces.
According to the NHS, this procedure may be needed if you cannot pass stools through your anus, which could be the result of an illness, injury or problem with your digestive system.
In the UK, it is estimated that one in 335 people have had the surgery.
The procedure can be part treatment for a number of illnesses, including cancer, diverticulitis, Crohn’s disease or any trauma to the abdomen.
The stoma will generally be ‘pink and most – like the inside of our mouths’. After the surgery, it will be swollen, but this will reduce in six to eight weeks.
There is no sensation to touching a stoma – as there are no nerves – but different people will have theirs in a different size or shape.
It is also possible to have a temporary stoma, which could later be reversed, if the diseased or damaged area in the bowel needs to heal over time.
A stoma is a surgically-created opening made on the abdomen, which is made to divert the flow of urine and faeces. Stock image used
TYPES OF STOMA
COLOSTOMY
This refers to an opening in the colon – the large intestine. During the operation, a part of the colon will be brought from inside the body through their abdomen. The output from this ‘often resembles a traditional stool’ and functions around one to three times a day.
ILEOSTOMY
For this procedure, the surgeon will bring a part of the small intestine – the ileum specifically – from inside the patient’s body and bring it through the abdomen, stitching it down to secure it. The output for an ileostomy is looser than that of a colostomy. An ileostomy bag – which enables drainage into the toilet between three to six times a day’ – is also worn.
UROSTOMY
A urostomy refers to an opening for a person’s urine specifically. For this, the surgeon will take a piece of someone’s small intestine and attach it to the ureters. This will ‘form a passageway for urine to pass through’. For this, one of the tube is brought out through the abdomen. A urostomy bag will also have a ‘bung or tap on the bottom to allow urine to be drained at regular intervals into the toilet’.
Source: Colostomy UK, NHS
